Evolution of pediatric vertigo/dizziness during the past two decades

Abstract

Background

Increasing life expectancy and declining birth rate are two key drivers of population aging globally, resulting in a falling population.

Objective

This study investigated the evolution of pediatric patients with vertigo/dizziness during the past two decades.

Methods

From 2001 to 2010, a total of 17,123 new patients with vertigo/dizziness visited our neurotological clinic. Of them, 472 (2.8%) were children (Group A). In contrast, 260 children (1.3%) out of 20,404 new patients with vertigo/dizziness were experienced during the period 2011–2020 (Group B). All patients underwent an inner ear test battery before diagnosis.

Results

The incidence of pediatric vertigo/dizziness in relation to overall neurotological cases significantly decreased from the first decade (2.8%) to the second decade (1.3%). Approximately 80% prevalence of pediatric vertigo/dizziness cases were referred to as vestibular migraine and benign paroxysmal vertigo of childhood regardless of Group A or B. Correlation between annual birth rate (x) and incidence of pediatric vertigo/dizziness cases in relation to overall neurotological cases (y) represented as y = 6.488x − 0.037 via linear regression analysis.

Conclusion

The evolution of pediatric vertigo/dizziness revealed decreased incidence from 2.8% (2001–2010) to 1.3% (2011–2020), which may be related to the declined annual birth rate from 11.7‰ (2001) to 7.0‰ (2020).

Chinese Abstract

背景：预期寿命延长和出生率下降是全球人口老龄化的两个关键驱动因素, 导致人口减少。

目的：本研究调查了过去二十年间, 儿童眩晕/头晕患者的变化。

方法：从2001年到2010年, 共有17123名新的眩晕/头晕患者到我院神经科就诊。其中, 472 人（2.8%）是儿童（A 组）。相比之下, 在2011-2020 年期间, 20,404 名新的眩晕/头晕患者中有260 名是儿童 (1.3%)（B 组）。所有患者在诊断前都接受了内耳测试系列。

结果：从第一个十年（2.8%）到第二个十年（1.3%）, 与整体神经病病例相关的小儿眩晕/头晕的发生率显著下降。大约 80% 的小儿眩晕/头晕病例被称为儿童前庭偏头痛和良性阵发性眩晕, 跟他们是 A 组的还是 B 组的无关。年出生率 (x) 与小儿眩晕/头晕病例发生率之间的相关性 (y), 相对于整体神经病病例, 通过线性回归分析表示为 y = 6.488x 0.037。

结论：小儿眩晕/头晕的变化显示发病率从 2.8% 下降(2001-2010) 降至 1.3% (2011-2020), 这可能与年出生率从 11.7‰(2001) 下降至 7.0‰ (2020) 有关。

Keywords:

• Benign paroxysmal vertigo of childhood
• Meniere’s disease
• vestibular migraine of childhood

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by National Science Council, Taiwan (Grant no. MOST 110-2314-B002-005).